I have too much vacation time so I took off early today and went to my local comic book store. It’s amazing that the same store used to make its money on new release comics but that was a number of years ago. Now it is the smallest section with Manga, tabletop, and back issues being much more in demand.
I tend to buy back issue comics and now try to support the stuff from those who don’t hate their customers like Eric July, Shad, Razorfist, Drinker, and now manga since they have this odd concept of writing stories people want to read.
I can understand trying to expand your market but at some point they had to have realized that the massive female audience they wanted just didn’t exist. And they didn’t take into account that ever since MCU popularity people love the idea of comic books but don’t actually read them so those polls they like to tour are meaningless. Similar to those polls showing that women make up half of all gamers but when you break it down it shows what you would expect regarding the games that generally appeal to men and women.
On the bright side I picked up the first appearance of She-Hulk. Now if only they had adapted the Byrne run instead of making a show to specifically piss of actual fans
My local longstanding CBS closed down about a decade ago. Then, most of their remaining inventory got bought by a nice couple who wanted turn their hobby into business. They even made a statement against BLM during the Floyd riots and in favor of national unity, very unusual for a CA business. Sadly, the business didn't survive the COVID lockdowns and they ended up selling everything to a wholesaler.
Most of the other CBS here have comics in the business name, but are 40% board/tabletop games, 40% TCGs, 15% manga, 5% comics. Most of the comics displayed are new releases, and if you want any back issues, you either need to go to a backroom or request a catalog so they can pull it from their warehouse/storage unit at a later date.
That is unusual to speak out against blm!